CAMBRIDGE, Mass., -- Abt Associates was awarded a $3.2 million contract by the U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesOffice of HIV/AIDS Policy to enhance HIV prevention activities in minority serving institutions, engage and train new community partners in HIV prevention activities, and organize an educational and professional development institute for federal staff.

Abt Associates and its partner, the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC), will provide technical assistance to historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic serving institutions, tribal colleges, and Asian and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions to promote HIV awareness, testing and prevention, sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening and prevention, and responsible sexual health and harm reduction. The initiative is focused on enhancing HIV prevention activities within these institutions through social marketing, and educational and awareness activities. The demonstration will be designed to assess and support the needs of the minority serving institutions and to identify best practices and lessons learned from an evaluation.

"HIV/AIDS continues to have a devastating impact on minority communities in the U.S.," said Dr. Liza Solomon, Principal Associate in Abt Associates' Domestic Health Division. "This demonstration will promote innovative methods of providing HIV prevention information and help identify model programs that may be more broadly adopted."

As part of the project Abt Associates will also provide technical assistance to the faith and secular communities to expand and improve their ability to provide HIV prevention messages to at risk communities. A final aspect of the initiative is to organize an in-service training institute for federal staff which will include 5 trainings per year on major issues in clinical care, epidemiologic trends, and other critical issues in HIV prevention.

Dr. Scott Royal, Division Vice President of Abt Associates' Domestic Health Division noted, "This project is part of Abt Associates' larger portfolio of work developing, implementing, and evaluating programs designed to address the serious problem of HIV/AIDS in minority populations across the U.S. We are honored to be selected along with our partner, NMAC, to carry out this important work."

Abt Associates, an employee-owned company, applies scientific research, technical assistance, survey, and consulting expertise to a wide range of social, economic and health policy issues; international development; clinical trials and registries; and complex business problems. Founded in 1965, the company provides services to U.S. federal, state and local governments; universities and foundations; media; and major corporations. In fiscal year 2009, the company had revenue of $264 million. Its staff of over 1,300 is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; Bethesda, Maryland; Durham, North Carolina; Lexington, Massachusetts (Abt Bio-Pharma Solutions, Inc.); New York, New York (Abt SRBI); and in Africa, Asia, Central Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.